downsmail.co.uk SINCE I retired as editor of the


Ambulances now a 999 case MailMarks


Downs Mail, I have maintained close links to continue coverage and campaigning for quality local NHS services. Operating and financing them offer


great challenges.At times things go wrong, but I believe I am just one of the vast majority of the 250,000 population of the Maidstone area who sing the praises of just about all these services, and who have good reason to be very grateful. That makes writing this month’s column so sad. For years I held our ambulance service in high esteem, but now too much goes wrong – and this is happening at the very sharpest end of our emergency services.We are talking life or death maers. Things seemed good when Maidstone


had its ownwell-manned ambulance station and enough vehicles to respond speedily to demands. Management and responseswere largely in local hands. But big changes saw the South East


Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) set up to cover an area from Hampshire to Kent. Local stations closed and ambulances were strategically and mostly individually positioned to provide cover. Then the NHS introduced the 111 phone system. Month after month the service missed targets on the most crucial category of emergency calls. The 111 system (operated locally by Secamb) had a disastrous start. It has improved, but still offers frustrations to those calling an ambulance because of all the questions when speed is of the essence. The service has now come under local


More chaos on theway


Dear Sir –Maidstone has only one bridge in the town and that results in traffic chaos. It is no one’s fault but what do Maidstone Council’s planners do? Agree to huge housing developments in the Hermitage Lane area of Barming, aswell as Coxheath and Park Wood. Reaching the hospital in a hurry for ambulances will be amiracle; as it is, Hermitage Lane is usually jammed from 3.30pm until 6pm and the additional homes in Coxheath will create a far heavier strain on East Farleigh bridge as drivers try to avoid the town centre. More traffic at Coxheath will also filter


down, adding to problems at the Linton crossroads and the Wheatsheaf junction, whichwill also have to deal with the extra vehicles from Park Wood. There doesn’t seem to be any practical solution, but you have to wonderwhether the planners considered the impact that more constructionwill have a few hundred yards along the line? Part of the Hermitage Lane area comes


Contact our team ...


Stephen Eighteen Editor stephen@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 231


32 Maidstone Town August 2015 Diane Nicholls


Assistant editor diane@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 232


Jane Shotliff Journalist


jane@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 233


Dawn Kingsford Journalist


dawn@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 233


DENNISFOWLE President dfowle2011@aol.com


and national microscopes – and is too often failing. The national press has conducted undercover investigations, and some of the shortcomings are appalling. Staff, faced with rationing the services, have to make life or death decisions. Locally the budget-holding GP-led Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) in Kent have lost patience. An investigation revealed significant shortcomings and “serious incidents”, which raised concerns about Secamb’s internal governance. Sadly only 33% of staff recommend Secamb as a place to work. The CCG now plans contractual “disaggregation” so the service operates across individual counties, and nationally the NHS has announced a major review of the 111 phone service. I think stronger management will help – but suspect this is more about funding.





Our love affair with cars NEWreports on improving traffic


flows in Maidstone during the next 15 years make fascinating reading, but how can Maidstone and Kent councils convince motorists to dampen our love affair with cars? They would like to see uswalk, cycle, car-share and use public transport more


under Tonbridge and Malling and it would appear that as it is in a pocket,well away from its main centres but will aract extra rates for that council, it really does not care about the traffic implications for Maidstone. In such a crowded place isn’t it time for councils to really talk to one another? Ron Stubbs,Maidstone


Lib Dems are no help


Dear Sir – I would like to comment on the article about me in the June DownsMail. At no point did I say to any of your staff


that I threatened to leave the country. However, your paper states that Iwas furious at being unseated by Cllr Clark. This is because residents of Southward will suffer, having three Lib Dem councillors spending a great deal of their time only dealing with issues in one part of theward, neglecting the residents in Tovilwhich they have done for many years. It appears residents in Tovil have tried to contact Cllr Clark but have not received a reply. Residents have already noticed


and there are carrots and sticks to convince us. Probably the biggest stick is the certainty of much slower journeys as major new residential and business developments increase the number of cars and lorries. Then there is the likelihood of parking charges increasing by at least 50 percent. The carrots include an improved park- and-ride service, with a new site possible at Linton crossroads and an extended 15- minute service for all sites. There could be a £3 parking fee, with these bus journeys free to all. Canwe expect any big new roads? The Leeds/Langley bypass from FourWents to M20 J8 is still on the cards, but that’s it. The reports detail junction and roundabout improvements, limited road widening and major changes to the town centre bridge gyratory system. But the urban area is not structured for anything really radical. So will traffic logjams and much higher parking fees persuade us to switch to public transport, cycling orwalking? It seems this is happening to a worthwhile degree in towns similar to Maidstone. But for many, especially those living in


our rural areas, the car is essential to working and private life. Our shops and other businesses will fight for its survival in town. We all know something must be done –


but the right balances will be very testing. Planners must permit adequate parking


for all developments. Lack of parking cannot be aweapon to ease traffic flow.


change in Southward since the election, after theway our three Lib Dem councillors lost the fight on a planning application on Postley Road. Cllrs Clark and Ian Chienden contradicted each other at the meeting, looking unprofessional and without a strong voice to fight for residents. Cripple Street site will be next. Our streets are dirty with lier, bins not emptied forweeks,weeds growing on footpaths and roads and fly-tipping increasing. Is this what residents of South ward have to look forward to? I amafraid Lib Dem councillors talk a


good yarn but never get stuck in to help residents.However, they expect a councillor’s allowance and pay rise because they consider they deserve it. Mike Hogg, Beaconsfield Road, Tovil


Less talk,more action


Dear Sir – The ladies of Kent fulfil an important role in society, maintaining an administrative competence in the political arena with dignity and tenacity.


Comment


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